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Plane Crash Kills 54 On Board, 6 Others

July 17, 2000|By From Tribune News Services.

PATNA, INDIA — A Boeing 737-200 aircraft crashed on Monday into a housing estate and burst into flames in eastern India, killing all but four of the 58 people on board and at least six people on the ground, airport officials said.

One of the 20-year-old aircraft's engines was on fire as it came in to land at the city of Patna, 650 milessoutheast of New Delhi. Smoke billowed from the plane's wreckage as rescuers, who included army personnel, searched for survivors and bodies.

An airport official said four survivors from the Alliance Airlines flight CD7412 were in a critical condition.

However, an official in New Delhi said he believed all 52 passengers and six crew had died.